


Change

by Annoying_Fan



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: But hopefully it's cute, Fluff, Nothing of Importance Really Happens, Other, charisk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 14:43:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16578500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annoying_Fan/pseuds/Annoying_Fan
Summary: The years had changed them both, but Chara was just as guilty as Frisk of occasionally lapsing back into old habits.





	Change

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Obake](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Obake).



> There's not much to say, this is a quick fic I put out in an hour or so because the urge to write struck me. That's an urge I haven't felt (and had the energy to act on) in a while! Hopefully I'll be writing some more in the near future; I'd still like to finish my other fic.
> 
> I'd like to credit Obake, whose Chara and Frisk helped inspired me to write something again. If you're cool, and you probably are if you're already here, you might want to check out their Tumblr at https://haakaze.tumblr.com/

It was late, and the soft yet ceaseless sound of the cold winter wind was only interrupted by the crunch of snow beneath their boots. Now that the weather had turned from chilly to icy, Chara was especially glad that the two of them had decided to double up on the layers just in case. Walking hand-in-hand with stride side-by-side, Chara could tell Frisk was freezing even still. The way Frisk pressed themself against Chara could have been mistaken for affection, plain and simple, but their cold fingers told the honest truth.

“We might need to stop taking walks like this until the weather warms up.” said Chara, the statement phrased more like a suggestion than it actually was. Their eyes were fixed on the sidewalk ahead, or at least what of it that could still be made out through the blanket of white, but Chara still knew Frisk heard them when the latter nodded silently into their shoulder. “Or at least stay closer to home.”

The addendum almost seemed like a token offering to Frisk, who so often initiated these pleasant strolls, and maybe it was, but Chara was fonder of their walks than they usually let on. It wasn’t like so many years ago when they were both still children, when getting Chara out of the house often took longer than the walk itself. The years had changed Chara, after all. The years had changed them both, really.

 “Sorry.”

Frisk’s voice was quiet, muffled, and mumbled- the feeling of Frisk speaking into the sleeve of their coat was almost more telling than the little sound accompanying it  Gazing at a house across the street, gazing away from Frisk, Chara sighed with a wiry smile. Their breath rolled out in a little ball of mist, disintegrating into the winter air like a drop of water in an ocean. “Don’t apologize, Frisk.” they chided quietly.

A wordless enunciation that sounded an awful lot like another apology followed, but Chara let it be. The years had changed them both, but Chara was just as guilty as Frisk of occasionally lapsing back into old habits. There was nothing wrong with Frisk’s silence, of course, but Chara knew there was more they would say if it weren’t too cold to be signing their half of the conversation in the open air. Together Chara and Frisk quickened their pace a little bit.

* * *

 

When Frisk was still stomping snow from their boots in a vain attempt to keep the carpet dry, Chara had already crossed the threshold to the living room and set about tossing a couple pieces of split oak into the fireplace. They moved quickly- not hastily, but with a certain sort of absentminded hurriedness as they kneeled beneath the chimney and stacked the wood logs. There was a pressing need to be helpful.

Some days, Frisk would still feel overwhelmed by the prospect of speaking. Some days, Chara would still feel they had to be useful to be loved, to deserve love. That was just how it went. After all, the years had changed them both, but you can never completely leave your old self behind. You can’t entirely forget about what you’ve done or who you were without losing a part of who you’ve become. You are never above the consequences of your actions… or something like that.

Chara suddenly felt quite self-aware as they recognized what they were doing and smiled in spite of themself. What a difference all those years since the Underground had made, that once they didn’t believe love could be unconditional but now they recognized how naïve that idea really was.

The sound of Frisk’s bare feet over the carpet couldn’t snap Chara’s attention away from their musings and the growing embers before them, but a hand on their shoulder was enough to do it. Chara looked up to see the other hand offering a mug of hot chocolate, emblazoned with a singular and small red heart- their mug. Chara’s eyes flickered to the small table between the fireside chairs, to Frisk’s mug of hot chocolate, before they reached out to gingerly take the drink. The sides of the mug were still hot to the touch, so Chara grabbed the handle just as soon as Frisk released it and leaned in at the same time to peck their partner’s lips.

“Thank you.” said Chara, receiving a soft hum in response as the pair stood up and moved to their respective chairs. Chara set their drink down only just long enough to finally slough their coat off their shoulders and settle into their chair.

The years had changed them both, where once one or the other of them- if not both- might have found sitting together in silence like this awkward. Now there was only a sense of comfort each derived from the other’s presence… and the spreading warmth of hot cocoa heating them up from the inside, of course. For the third time that evening, Chara smiled, but this time was the most genuine of all.

Even if sometimes they would backpedal a little bit and fall into old habits, Chara’s life had unquestionably been changed for the better by Frisk. Chara recognized what it meant to be loved unconditionally now, and if ever they forgot even for a moment, Frisk was there to remind them. It was a lesson Chara would forever be grateful for.

“I love you, Frisk.”

“I love you too, Chara.” The exchange was short. Simple. But Frisk had spoken clearly and confidently; certainly it was the most confidence Frisk had spoken with all day. It reminded Chara that they weren’t the only one whom the years had changed, as even on those rare days when Frisk slipped back into their old soft-spoken manner there was always at least one thing Frisk could talk endlessly about.

In the other chair, Frisk was considering similar thoughts. Certainly, the years had changed them both, but it was not only the years that did it.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still waffling between feeling like the "theme" of this story (if it can be said to have one) is too subtle or too blatant, but regardless, I hope you enjoyed reading it. Please leave kudos if you did or a comment if you have anything to say, and either way thank you for reading.


End file.
